An art dealer I once worked for, told me one day that “all the really good old paintings have already been found, purchased and are hanging in museums or private collections somewhere. It is impossible for a dealer to find great paintings of known artists 19th century and older of any quality”. This statement was made before two really interesting re-discoveries and authentications were recently made; The Torment of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo, 1487-88, purchased by the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas in 2009 and now a newly authenticated work by Vincent Van Gogh, Le Blute-Fin Mill, 1886, now on display in the Museum de Fundatie in the central Dutch town of Zwolle, Netherlands.
The Michelangelo painting was executed in oil and tempera on a wooden panel and believed to be one of only four easel paintings to come from Michelangelo’s hand. The truly amazing part of this discovery is that Michelangelo was only 12 or 13 years old when he painted it. Yes that’s correct….12 or 13 years old. The story behind the story is that young Michelangelo was granted access to prints and drawings in Domenico Ghirlandaio, his teacher’s studio. It was there that he discovered and was attracted to a 15th century engraving by German master Martin Schongauer, The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Using this engraving as an inspiration to try his hand at painting, young Michelangelo visited local fish markets, studying the fish scales and iridescent quality of the scales. The addition of these beautiful scales adds an original element to Michelangelo’s painting compared to the Schongauer’s engraving. Michelangelo’s painting is relatively small measuring 18 ½ x 13 ¼ inches.
The Michelangelo painting was sold at auction in London, July 2008 and then went under conservation and technical research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The painting had been known to scholars for decades, but until its recent cleaning, the discolored varnishes and disfiguring overpaints prevented a full appreciation of the young Michelangelo’s masterful execution. After a brief showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008, the painting was unveiled in its new home, the Kimbell Art Museum in the fall of 2009. Art patrons in the Dallas Fort Worth area were thrilled by the rediscovered Kimbell acquisition. If you haven’t seen it yet, and are in the area, a visit is a must and a treat!
Back in the 1970s, Vincent Van Gogh was all the rage amongst art history students. I was no exception, intrigued by his bright and often unnatural use of color, thick wild paint strokes and fascinatingly sad life story. Last week artdaily.org, a net art newspaper, reported on the most recent painting to be authenticated - a genuine Vincent Van Gogh. Le Blute-Fin Mill, a 19th century painting of a Paris mill, was declared an original Van Gogh, 25 years after the death of its collector Dirk Hannema. The Van Gogh was purchased by Hannema in 1975 from a Paris antique and art dealer for 5,000 Dutch guilders ($2,700). He then immediately insured it for 16 times what he paid for it. He was absolutely sure it was an original Van Gogh. His claims were discredited, however, because of earlier purchases of other “past masters” and claims which turned out to be forgeries.
The painting is atypical compared to Van Gogh’s more widely-known works such as his starry night paintings in rich dark blues and yellows and his crows over wheat field paintings. In contrast, the sky in this painting is very pale blue, almost ivory white and motionless. One can see hints of the typical Van Gogh stroke in the treatment of the women’s clothing as well as the strokes and almost rickety looking stairs and windmill, although the overall effect of the painting is still more sedate than what one usually thinks of with a Van Gogh painting. The colors in the women’s gowns are more typical of his works, especially the two women in the lower left hand corner of the canvas.
An interesting note about Dirk Hannema is that he was a brilliant art curator, being assigned as director of the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam in 1921 when he was 26 years old. He collected high quality works by lesser known artists with a preference for works of old masters that were yet to be authenticated. He spent two years in jail just after WWII in 1945. During the war, before the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, he had been given responsibility for all of the museums in the country. He was arrested and stood trial for being accused of aiding the illegal sale of several artworks to the Nazi’s which once belonged to the Koenigs Collection. He was never formally convicted and was later released. In 1958 he created an institute for his collection and was allowed to live in Nijenhuis Castle in the village of Heino on the condition that he allowed public access to the collection. Hannema personally gave guided tours by appointment until his death in 1984.
As an appraiser of fine art, an art historian and general lover of all arts, I am excited to know that “all the really good old paintings have already been found and purchased” is not necessarily true. I find it exceedingly hopeful that there is still a possibility of artworks just waiting to be discovered and re-discovered. I look forward to seeing them someday in museums where the masses can enjoy them.
Submitted by Christine Guernsey, ISA AM
For Guernsey, Nelson, Kolker and Associates, The Fine Art of Appraising
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